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Ekevall, E. and Hayward, E.L. and Hayward, G. and Magill, J. and Spencer, E. and MacBride, G.
and Bryce, C. and Stimpson, B.P. (2010) Engineering - young people want to be informed. In:
Engineering Education 2010: Inspiring the next generation of engineers, 1900-01-01.
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Inspiring the next generation of engineers
EE2010
RDP 07
Engineering – young people want to be informed
E. Ekevall1 (e.ekevall@educ.gla.ac.uk), E. L. Hayward1 (lhayward@educ.gla.ac.uk), G.
Hayward2 (g.hayward@eee.strath.ac.uk), J. Magill1 (j.magill@elec.gla.ac.uk), E.
Spencer1 (e.spencer@educ.gla.ac.uk), G. MacBride1 (gmb9v@exchange.gla.ac.uk), C.
Bryce3 (acbryce@elec.gla.ac.uk) and B. Stimpson2 (b.stimpson@eee.strath.ac.uk).
1
Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Glasgow, Scotland, G3 6NH.
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Strathclyde,
Scotland, G1 1XW.
3
Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Glasgow,
Scotland, G12 8LT.
2
Abstract: Young people in developed nations recognise the contribution that science and technology
make to society and acknowledge their importance now and in the future, yet few view their study as
leading to interesting careers. Some countries are taking action to raise interest in science,
technologies, engineering and mathematics and increase the number of students studying these
subjects. One of the barriers to young people pursuing engineering is their limited or distorted
perception of it - they associate it only with building and fixing things. Young people rarely encounter
engineers, unlike other professionals, engineering has little or no advocacy in the media and there are
few opportunities to experience engineering. Many of the pupils surveyed at the start of Engineering
the Future, a three year EPSRC-funded project, wrote “don’t know what engineering is” and/or “would
like more information”. This paper reports on work with researchers, policy makers and practitioners in
Scotland to develop a sustainable model of activities and interactions that develops pupils’
understanding of the nature of engineering, embeds experiences of engineering within the school
classroom and curriculum and promotes engineering as a career. After learning about engineering
through the activities the pupils’ perceptions had improved. Almost all considered it important that
young people know about engineering, because it is an essential part of everyday life and, in the
words of one pupil - “If we know more about it, our minds wouldn’t stay closed to it. We would maybe
take it up.”
Introduction
Engineering the Future (EtF), funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council,
sought to explore and address some of the major challenges facing engineering in education.
Researchers, policy makers and practitioners worked together to enhance young people's
understanding of, commitment to and participation in engineering. Research shows that young people
in developed nations recognise the contribution that science and technology make to society and
acknowledge their importance now and in the future. Yet few view their study as leading to interesting
careers (Schreiner and Sjøberg, 2007; OECD, 2007; Canavan et al., 2002).
One of the barriers to young people pursuing engineering is their limited or distorted perception of it they associate it only with building and fixing things (Marshall et al., 2007). Young people rarely
encounter engineers, unlike other professionals, engineering has little or no advocacy in the media
and there are few opportunities to experience it. Therefore most remain ignorant of the nature of
engineering and the diverse career paths it offers.
Between the academic years 2005/06 and 2006/07 the number of full-time engineering and
technology undergraduates in Higher Education in the United Kingdom (Higher Education Statistics
Agency, 2005-2006) increased by 2%. However, in the decade 1996/97 to 2006/07 the number fell by
15%, while the overall number of students entering full-time education increased by 28 %. Unless
action is taken there is likely to be a shortfall of engineers in disciplines such as electronic and
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electrical engineering (where the number of applicants has declined by 29 % between 2002/03 and
2007/08 (Engineering UK, 2009)) to meet the requirement for the recruitment of substantial numbers
of people by 2017 in the engineering and manufacturing sectors (Engineering UK, 2009), who will play
key roles in meeting the needs of society today and for the future. In the UK engineering outreach
initiatives such as residential courses, engineering clubs, challenges and projects aim to encourage
young people to study engineering. However, there is no guarantee that young people will experience
one of them, because not all UK schools engage in them (STEMNET, 2008). EtF believes that the key
to ensuring all young people are informed about engineering lies within schools. This paper reports on
work with researchers, policy makers and practitioners in Scotland to develop a sustainable model of
activities and interactions that develops pupils’ understanding of the nature of engineering, embeds
experiences of engineering within the school classroom and curriculum and promotes engineering as
a career.
Engineering the Future
The EtF project focused on Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) in Scotland and aimed to
develop an innovative, sustainable and transferable model of activities which encourage young people
to study engineering and support them as they make the transition from school to university.
The objectives were to:
 embed engineering within national curriculum, assessment and qualifications policies and practice
 provide experience and understanding of engineering activities within school classrooms
 identify and make young people aware of key skills, mind-sets and dispositions needed by
engineers to face changing demands through their working life (in the light of information emerging
in the project, this aim is being pursued through careers guidance, as well as school engineering
experiences)
 support students’ motivation and learning across the school-university transition and into
engineering at university
 develop pedagogy in university engineering which challenges and supports students to extend
their prior knowledge, skills and dispositions.
The project is thus complex, incorporating several strands, each with multiple aims and activities. The
complex nature of the Engineering the Future project derives from research evidence (Hayward et al.,
2004, 2005) that significant and sustainable educational change requires the collaborative partnership
in pursuit of a common aim of all the key players in the educational system. The design,
implementation and evaluation of the EtF project are described by MacBride et al. (2008, 2010).
School-University Partnerships
The project set up school-university partnerships to identify engineering-related topics in national
curricular guidance and examination syllabuses in Scotland and across the UK in subjects related to
science and engineering, with a view to developing collaboratively innovative EEE activities for pupils.
Engineering was not embedded in the science curriculum, but the partnerships gave participating
schools a chance to enrich both their technology and science curricula. They also provided
opportunities to interact and collaborate with science and technology teachers in other schools and
engineers in the real world. Such collaboration enables sharing of knowledge, experience and
expertise which does not normally happen.
Schools were assigned EEE lecturers on a random basis. The three-year school-university
partnerships typically involved one or two teachers from the school Physics or Technology
departments and up to three EEE lecturers. Different models of collaboration emerged, but particular
factors characterised successful interactions:
 face-to-face meeting early in the relationship
 well defined task
 agreed way of contacting each other (usually email)
 planned face-to-face meetings to keep the momentum going.
Reciprocal school/university visits were also very beneficial in fostering successful collaborations.
These gave participants an opportunity to update their knowledge of learning and teaching in the other
sector.
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Lecturers’ reasons for getting involved
Although various justifications were advanced for the importance of the school-university partnerships,
the recurring theme was enabling pupils to make informed decisions regarding their university study
and enthusing some of them for engineering. As one lecturer pointed out, “We’re here as researchers
but also as educators. And one of the things that can be quite difficult is the school and university
interface for pupils. Anything that can be done to improve that is useful.”
“…a lot of … negative images [ that] are associated with engineering and I think trying to get across
to school pupils the positive sides of engineering and what engineers do for the betterment of
society is more important.” (Lecturer interviewed at the end of the project).
The lecturers recognised that giving pupils more in-depth knowledge of engineering might work
against engineering recruitment. Nevertheless, they felt that the pupils would be making a reasonable
and well-informed decision that a different career was, in fact, more appropriate.
“…hopefully it could help students to make wiser decisions about the university degree that they
choose. And that could work both ways in the context of engineering, I suppose. It could make
some decide that they don’t want to do it, but, hopefully, it would also persuade some that they may
be capable and would be good at doing it, but haven’t really got a clear idea of what it’s about.”
(Lecturer interviewed at the end of the project).
Teachers’ reasons for getting involved
The teachers had different reasons for developing the engineering activities, such as creating
something valuable for the pupils, wishing to develop a more interactive teaching/learning approach,
enhancing their existing syllabus, re-framing scientific tasks by giving pupils problems to solve and
incorporating skills that are important for both engineers and scientists. Several mentioned the
advantage of access to additional resources and equipment as a benefit of taking part in the project.
“Although it’s been a lot of work, we have got an insert now that can be used - and that can only be
valuable for the children. They have a better experience and things. I think that’s a major advantage
that we have this thing. There’s also the money as well: we have got a bit of money, so that’s an
advantage as well. It is nice to be involved with the universities and other schools and things like
that. It’s certainly an advantage to have outside contact… many teachers would not have any
contact with researchers, so that would be a valuable thing.” (School Teacher interviewed during
the project).
Building links with the universities and working with the university lecturers, who provided an external
stimulus and support for developing new ideas, were also seen as important. Another benefit of
participation was sharing experiences and practices with the other teachers in the project and finding
out how other schools approach things. A major challenge to participation was time, because of
pressures from the normal pattern of the school year and workload priorities. One teacher commented
on what they perceived to be the difference between EtF and many other projects.
“It seems to me that you can get all sorts of money for all sorts of things, apart from when it actually
comes to direct delivery into the curriculum and the classroom, and that’s what the positive thing
about this project has been, it’s been about direct-delivery in the classroom. Teaching. And that’s
why we like it. And that’s why we’re involved in it and that’s why we enjoy it. There’s so many things
that go on in a parallel universe and they never actually make an impact at all. Then they produce
all sorts of glossy documents, and we’re struggling to photocopy in black and white on our budget.”
(School Teacher interviewed during the project).
Awareness and understanding of engineering
At the start of the project EtF obtained questionnaire information from school pupils (in classes
selected by teachers participating in the project) and 1st year students taking EEE in the Universities
of Glasgow and Strathclyde about factors influencing their ideas about engineering and their choice of
it for university study.
 7 schools (5 state-funded, 2 private)
 869 pupils (389 females, 480 males) (approximately 20% of pupils in years S3-S6 in these
schools)
 S3 (age 14/15) – 418
 S4 (age 15/16) – 193
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 S5 (age 16/17) – 185
 S6 (age 17/18) – 75
1st Year University students – 177 (9 females, 168 males) (approximately 80/90%)
Many of the pupils surveyed had no or limited awareness of engineering and 65% had never
considered a career in engineering. It was evident from the pupil questionnaires that much careers
and subject choice advice came from family and friends and that careers advisers and school staff did
not feature prominently. The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Engineering and
Technology Board (ETB) study ‘Public Attitudes to and Perceptions of Engineering and Engineers
2007’ (Marshall et al., 2007) found that it is not only pupils who have a limited awareness and
understanding of engineering. Almost eight out of ten respondents, aged from 16 to over 75, agreed
that “there are so many types of engineers that it makes engineering confusing to the average person
to understand”, but “overall, engineers fix things”. Practical action in this study suggested that
“providing people with information about engineering improves and clarifies understanding of the
scope and breadth of engineering and importantly, generates interest in the profession”.
77% of the 1st year EEE students identified family links as the main factor in encouraging them to
study engineering - 56% mentioned family or friends involved in engineering. Another key factor for
some (61%) was engineering experiences in the school classroom. The student survey demonstrates
that school-based educational experiences can influence pupils’ decision-making about their further
study and career. However, awareness of the nature of professional engineering and engineering
experience related to science and technology courses are currently absent from nearly all pupils’
school work. This situation leaves most young people uninformed about the nature of engineering and
ignorant of the career options open to them. In response to a final invitation to make additional points,
a lot of the pupils wrote “don’t know what engineering is” and/or “would like more information”. EtF
sought to redress the situation by developing classroom engineering experiences, providing resources
for active careers advice and working to embed engineering formally in the curriculum.
Investigating engineering careers provision in the project schools
Prompted by pupils' poor awareness of the nature of engineering and associated careers and by the
apparent lack of influence of school careers guidance staff on the university students’ choice of
engineering, the project investigated careers guidance materials and provision. Seven project schools
(five state-funded and two private) were visited to establish the careers guidance pattern and the
availability of careers materials. Teachers identified by the schools as having a careers guidance role
(the number varied from one to ten) were invited, in discussion with researchers, to describe guidance
practice in each school. The initial findings of this investigation are described by Ekevall et al. (2009).
In almost all cases the pattern of guidance was entirely responsive. Engineering might occasionally be
mentioned to pupils who were very good at science or mathematics, but in most cases it came up only
when pupils asked for information about it. The large numbers of pupils ignorant of engineering and
associated career options were thus in a ‘Catch 22’ situation.
A study by the project team of the available engineering careers material revealed a wide range of
resources in multiple locations. Only a few explained the duties and professional practice of engineers.
The project produced a leaflet ‘Engineering – is it for you?’, which explained the nature of engineering,
the skills required, different types of engineering and the benefits of an engineering career. This was
read and discussed in either their guidance or their science class by pupils in S2, aged 13-14 (n=472),
and S4, aged 15-16 (n=643), in the seven schools.
An on-line survey showed that overall the use of the leaflet was successful. Before reading it 70%
(n=377) of the S4 pupils and 80% (n=379) of the S2 pupils had not considered a career in
engineering. Just under half (S4 – 44%, n=237; S2 – 45%, n=212) were interested in the leaflet when
they were first given it. 68% (n=338) of the S4 pupils and 46% (n=216) of the S2 thought that it made
engineering seem an interesting career. 43% (n=234) of the S4 pupils and 51% (n=239) in S2
changed their ideas about engineering after reading it. Most (S4 – 78%, n=412; S2 – 79%, n=371)
indicated that the leaflet helped them to understand engineering.
(Responses to a second leaflet, 'Electrical Engineering: is it for you?’, discussed by S4 pupils only, are
not reported here.)
Integrating practical engineering experiences in secondary schools
Physics teachers in ten Scottish schools (8 state-funded, 2 private), working in partnership with
Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) lecturers from the Universities of Glasgow and
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Strathclyde, developed contemporary engineering experiences that were built into science or physics
courses for classes ranging from S1 to S6. The engineering activities were based on
(a) a set of key ideas that pupils should understand about the nature of engineering and its
motivating power;
(b) essential characteristics of high quality engineering learning experiences identified by the
participating teachers and lecturers at the start of the project (MacBride et al., 2010).
Qualitative research methods were used to investigate the views of the teachers and university
lecturers who developed the activities and to explore the experiences and views of the pupils after
engaging in the activities:
 interviews with all the teachers and university lecturers;
 focus groups with up to eight pupils who had experienced an engineering activity;
 classroom observation in the classes during the engineering activities.
Despite the teachers having initial concerns about finding space or time to fit engineering in to the
physics curriculum in examination stages – S3-S6 - they did succeed in doing so: twelve of the
nineteen engineering experiences produced during the project were for S3-S6. Table 1 provides a
brief description of the whole set.
Table 1: Engineering experiences established within the existing science and physics curricula
Year
Title
Description
S6
Advanced Higher
Investigations in School
Practical Investigations into the Speed of Light and the
Mobility of Charge Carriers.
S6
Advanced Higher
Investigations at University
Physics staff in the school, working with electronic and
electrical engineering colleagues and doctoral researchers,
developed six advanced investigations, ranging from
ultrasonic characterisation of viscoelastic materials to
electrical sterilization of liquids.
S1/2
Bat Monitoring
Using bat monitors to listen to sounds inaudible to humans
and learning about ultrasound and its uses.
S1
Building a Lighthouse
Planning and building a simple model of a functioning
lighthouse with a fully operational circuit and appropriate
supporting structure.
S1/2
Carnoustie Wind Project
Optimising a wind turbine to produce the maximum
power/energy and consideration of the benefits and problems
associated with wind turbines, including issues of planning
and positioning within the local environment.
S1
Fun with Bridges
An engineering challenge with an enterprise link, involving
the construction and testing of bridges.
S2/3
Hot Potato
Calibrating a thermistor and using it to monitor the
differences in temperature of a heated potato as it cools;
exploring the relationship between temperature and
resistance.
S3
LEDs and Photodiodes
Using commercially available light emitters and receivers to
investigate how the application of the principle of sending
signals through optical fibre could be improved
S2/3
Light and Dark
Investigating how a light sensor (LDR) reacts to light
brightness; working through a staged process illustrating how
automatic street lights work.
S1/2
Mars Rover
Planning a Mars mission (balancing scientific benefit against
budget and other practical considerations) and specific
aspects of electronic engineering relating to robotics.
S4
Nuclear Debate
Learning about engineering applications related to
radioactivity and nuclear physics, including building a
radiation detector and managing a nuclear plant simulator.
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S3/4
PETS Course
An integrated Physics, Economics and Technological Studies
course newly designed by the school specifically for school
students who are interested in an engineering career.
S3/4
Pimp My Trolley
Engineering
Designing, building and testing a crumple zone for a lab
trolley (as a model for a motor vehicle).
S3
Radio Project
Building a radio with easily sourced materials such as toilet
roll tubes, crystal earphones, diodes, terminal blocks, aerials
and capacitors.
S1/2
Security Unit
Designing and building electronic security systems.
S3/4
Ultrasound
Using ultrasound to measure distance in a Health Physics
unit and learning about other engineering applications such
as sonar, weld testing and car reversing indicators.
S5/6
Wheatstone Bridge
Building and modelling a realistic engineering scenario
involving Wheatstone Bridges.
S5/6
Wii Sports Unit
Introducing some of the ideas of mechanics at the level of
Scottish Qualifications Authority Higher Physics by
considering the physics which a software engineer would
need to implement to make the Nintendo Wii-Sports game
realistic.
S1
Wind Turbines
Developing an engineering-based unit of work related to wind
turbines in the context of studying renewable energy
sources. The challenge is to find a design configuration to
produce maximum power.
Schools involved in EtF and some previously uninvolved were invited to trial these engineering
activities. The trialling schools were provided with the teacher guides written by the original
developer(s) and the key principles for high quality learning experiences in science and engineering.
All of them found the engineering activities manageable and suitable for all their pupils. They plan to
use them in years to come.
Overall, participants were very positive about the collaborations and about developing experiences
that could be very helpful to other schools for promoting engineering within the existing curriculum.
Lecturers’ views of developing the engineering curriculum inserts
After developing the engineering experiences the lecturers believed they had a greater understanding
of what is required for pupils to make a successful transition from school to university. The schooluniversity partnerships were viewed as a good way of “keeping up with the curriculum”, in the (usual)
absence of other school-university links. Prior to the project, lecturers had been making assumptions
about pupils' knowledge based on either their own experiences at school or previous awareness of a
now outdated curriculum. Their involvement gave them the opportunity to explore why certain areas
were not taught or were taught differently from the way they had expected and helped them to
understand their students and the school system better. The lecturers discovered the limitations and
constraints that teachers are under: a “packed curriculum” that is ‘restrictive’ and ‘prescriptive’; an
apparent lack of resources, modern facilities and equipment – “It was older than me”; and assessment
processes that impact on pedagogy.
Knowing the current school curriculum and how schools operate was seen as the first step for a
successful school-university transition. Those involved in first year teaching, who were concerned to
link school and university learning and to help students with the transition, benefited particularly from
better understanding of the school curriculum and “the way the subject is taught”. This group of
lecturers indicated that their new understanding of the students' previous learning experience made
them think about the course content and their own teaching methods and they sought to take account
of the kinds of learning/teaching that students had previously experienced.
Lecturers also mentioned other practical advantages of being in a working partnership with schools.
These included:
 increased knowledge and confidence on “how to pitch” a talk to promote engineering;
 feeling positive and encouraged, knowing that they were “contributing in some way”;
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possible value to their academic career, adding a form of ‘outreach’ to research and teaching.
Teachers’ views of developing and trialling the engineering curriculum activities
Almost unanimously the teachers perceived the engineering curricular activities to be very interesting
and motivating for pupils. Reasons offered for this included practical problems, more interactive
teaching and learning approaches and relevance to everyday life. Some of the engineering
experiences had engaged pupils with a challenge and/or competitive element with an achievable goal,
stimulating healthy competition.
Teachers noted that they themselves had been highly motivated by the activities, too: one said they
had encouraged more interactive teaching/learning and opened up creative possibilities in keeping
with his original motivations for becoming a physics teacher. They frequently mentioned the higher
than usual degree of interaction (pupil-pupil and pupil-teacher) and reflected on the nature of pupils'
learning. They believed the pupils benefited from more ownership - “They learn for themselves and
remember better in this type of work” - from “having fun, but learning at the same time” and from
having to be creative and active learners, using their knowledge and, often, imagination to solve a
problem.
Teachers also spoke very positively about the general skills the pupils were learning - teamwork,
collaboration, social skills, planning, reasoning and information handling. Two teachers who had
implemented the Mars Rover project commented that working to constraints and the iterative process
of designing something, finding out that it costs too much and having to go back and re-think, possibly
sacrificing some things to make everything fit, brought into focus for the pupils the idea that this is
what people actually do in their jobs - people have to think and problem-solve in this way every day.
There were some concerns about possible resourcing issues for some of the activities. Sharing
equipment across schools with the support of education authority staff was suggested. Schools
involved in trialling overcame possible resourcing problems by substituting and borrowing equipment.
Some teachers predicted that biology and/or chemistry teachers might find it difficult to run the
engineering experiences in the common S1-2 science course, especially if equipment failed: “What to
do when an electronic board goes wrong is a main issue”. However, in the schools where the
engineering activities were trialled by the whole science department the other staff members enjoyed
teaching them, although some found it a bit daunting at first to deal with class management issues and
new resources. Notably, it was not the engineering content that was new or daunting.
Pupils’ views of the engineering curriculum inserts
The pupils in the focus groups were aware of the science/physics and the basic mathematics within
the engineering experiences, such as telecommunications in the Radio Project, sensors and outputs in
the Mars Rover activity, forces, energy and design in the Pimp My Trolley activity and calculations,
formulas and graphs in various activities.
A variety of reasons for engagement and motivation were given by the pupils, but one of the most
frequent was fun - “Good, fun, but hard work”; “More fun and better learning”; “More fun – you can talk
about what you’re doing”; and “More fun, when all working together”. One pupil even commented “It’s
more fun – so you want to know more about physics”. The pupils were also motivated and engaged by
the challenges: “If you work hard at it, the benefits are good”; “It was a challenge, but not too easy or
too hard – achievable but not easy”; “Challenging, but you’ve accomplished something - it ‘clicks’ and
you remember it”; and “It was more challenging because you had to find out for yourself, but this
makes you learn it well”.
The practical activities within the engineering experiences provided opportunities to be independent
and creative and to make choices. Most pupils reflected that the practical work made it easier to
understand and remember the physics: “There should be more projects like this – helps you to learn
better. A practical activity is easier to remember than notes”. The practical work was often perceived
as different from ‘normal’ practical work, because the pupils weren’t demonstrating something that has
just been explained, already knowing what will happen, or following instructions. One pupil focus
group summed it up: “Lessons different – more active and more freedom... make your own choices”.
The majority of the pupils enjoyed working in teams. They said they could work together, help one
another to understand and share ideas.
After taking part in the engineering activities a number of pupils in the focus groups had changed their
views of engineering now they “knew more about it” and, as a result, some were more interested in it.
Most realised that engineering covers a wider range of things than they had thought: for example, “[I]
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used to think engineers fixed bridges, ships. Now I know they design and plan them...” Others
recognised it was “not just a male job”.
All the pupils in the focus groups thought young people should have some general knowledge of
engineering, even those who were not interested in it: “There’s a need to understand what it really is –
not a stereotype – and not just for boys, and that it pays well. It’s not just the guy that fixes the
washing machine, it’s always developing, changing, and society needs engineers.” Other reasons why
young people should know about engineering included: “It’s a big part of everyday life and the
economy”; “You have to know about the world you live in”; “It helps you to understand the science”; “It
justifies science – it shows how science is used”; “The knowledge would be useful in later life - people
should know how things are made/fixed”; “They might want to do it when they’re older and not know
about it”; and “If it was in the curriculum more people would try it. Some who don’t like physics/ maths
might be motivated by an engineering applications treatment of these subjects.”
Engineering in the Curriculum
After learning about engineering through the engineering activities the pupils’ perceptions of
engineering had improved. Almost all the pupils in the focus groups considered it important that young
people know about engineering, because it is an essential part of everyday life – “We would like to find
out more about engineering”; “If we knew more about it, our minds wouldn’t stay closed to it. We would
maybe take it up”; and “The world will need engineers in the future, so if people learn about it some
will want to go on and do it, You’d enjoy it, too.” The importance of engineering, both for learning and
for economic development, is mentioned within curriculum documents (Scottish Executive and
Learning Teaching Scotland, 2006) and government documents (Scottish Executive, 2001, Robert,
2002, HM Treasury, 2004, Sainsbury, 2007) but without strong emphasis. To create circumstances
where engineering really can contribute strongly to individual pupils' learning and to economic
development requires an explicit and detailed strategy which builds engineering and the associated
skills into the learning of all pupils. Engineering courses in UK schools –Engineering Skills for Work in
Scotland and the Engineering Diploma in England - are restricted to the upper secondary phase after
pupils have made their subject choices. Engineering the Future argued for the formal inclusion of
engineering in the emerging reformed curriculum in Scotland, Curriculum for Excellence, in both the
sciences and technologies throughout primary and secondary school. In the Curriculum for Excellence
science and technology outcomes and experiences (Learning Teaching Scotland, 2009c, 2009a) and
the principles and practice documents (Learning Teaching Scotland, 2009d, 2009b) engineering now
features more prominently than in the previous curriculum documents. The project team are now
interacting with policy makers on the implementation of strategies that would ensure that the concepts
and activities central to engineering do form part of pupils’ school experiences. Embedding
engineering in schools requires teachers who are informed about engineering. School-university
partnerships are a valuable way of sharing knowledge that can benefit both sectors and provide
improved, more integrated and coherent experiences for both pupils and university students.
References
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Ekevall, E., Hayward, E. L., Hayward, G., MacBride, G., Magill, J. & Spencer, E. (2009) Engineering –
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr. N. Hedge, University of Glasgow, Department of Educational Studies, for her
contribution to questionnaire development and analysis and Dr. D. Elliot, University of Glasgow,
Scottish Centre for Research in Education, for her contribution to the analysis. They acknowledge the
encouragement and financial support from the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research
Council (EPSRC) and are grateful to Agilent Technologies Ltd. for donation of equipment to the
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schools involved in the project and to the Agilent Foundation in the USA for financial support in
developing games-based engineering resources.
Copyright statement
Copyright © 2009 E. Ekevall, E. L. Hayward, G. Hayward, J. Magill, E. Spencer, G. MacBride, C. Bryce and B. Stimpson: The
authors assign to the EE2010 organisers and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for
personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced.
The authors also grant a non-exclusive licence to the Engineering Subject Centre to publish this document in full on the World
Wide Web (prime sites and mirrors) on flash memory drive and in printed form within the EE2010 conference proceedings. Any
other usage is prohibited without the express permission of the authors.
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